Get to Know the Mercado Family

Ministry Description

Serving in the Word of Life Bible Institute too: in the Dean of Men Office, as a conselor of male students. I had the opportunity of Teach different subjects of Bible Clubs. In Buenos Aires city now I can serve as a missionary in the North Zone of Bs. with the Biblel Clubs. Every weekend all my family travel to our local church in Escobar, 165 km from, to serve there in different ministries too... Naty said : began to serve together in his local church in Escobar, at that time serving with the youth of the church in the Bible Club. In 2008 we made the decision to serve as Missionaries of the Word of Life Argentina and we have done it through the years in different areas till now. Today we continue as Missionaries of the Word of Life Argentina and actively serving in our local church too.
One verse that God used to call me to the service was Isaiah 55.8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts more than your thoughts

Learn more about the ministry in Argentina.

About Jony

My name is Jonatan Ariel Mercado, I was born on December 26, 1982 in the city of Ingeniero Maschwitz, Escobar city, province of Buenos Aires. My wife's name is Natalia, we are married almost 10 years ago. I have a son, Josue, 3 years old, Nellah, 2 years old and God willing we will have our third daughter in December.
I had the privilege of being born into a Christian family. I am the youngest of 3 male brothers. Two days after I was born, they introduced me to the church and dedicated me to the Lord. My maternal grandfather was a pastor and my father was also a pastor. My mom among many things, was a Sunday School teacher and responsible for a Biblical activity for kids. I met Jesus as my Savior at 5 years old, in our church in Escobar. I do not remember everything, but if I know it was the closing of the Sunday School, and that my father just preached, I was sitting on the first bench next to my classmates, and although I do not remember all the words my dad said, I remember the moment when he ask to make a decision, and I raised my hand and I never forget my dad's face, bathed in tears seeing his youngest son understanding and accepting the Gospel message.
All my life revolved around the church. In my head CHURCH was the same as FAMILY. But as I got older I started to realize that the Church was not the only thing. And as I entered the last year of elementary school, I began to adopt and adapt to things I had never seen at home or in the church. Another way of speaking, another way of seeing parents and the family; which led me to start having problems with my parents. At the end of my elementary school, in 1995, a friend of the family invited us to go to the Word of Life camp in San Miguel del Monte, and we went with my brothers and some kids from the church. It was an incredible experience, I had never seen anything like that !!! But it only lasted a week ... and when I returned to my city, I expected something new: high school. And when I started high school I decided to start enjoying things of the world; friendships, thoughts, places ... things that I had not been taught ... and so I lived for several years !!! But I never stopped going to church, I could not ... my dad was one of the pastors !!! And that reality stopped me from getting into the things of the world. I was afraid of the consequences: that my father would lose his ministry, the pain that he could generate for my parents, what other people would say about me and about them, what could happen to me ... I was afraid, not the fear of God; I lived with a borrowed faith, without principles or personal convictions ... this led me to have a deep sense of dissatisfaction, because I did not enjoy the world, but neither of the things of God ... I never stopped going to the camps every summer, I went, I played, I made friends, I listened to the Word, I made decisions, but when I returned to my city, my decisions and commitment remained in the camp.
Until I said ENOUGH! And I decided to be baptized in 1999 (as if baptism was something magical), thinking that it would change my spiritual reality ... but I was still the same ... I also decided to start serving in the church (until that moment I only attended, faithfully !, and I collaborated in whatever they asked me) and challenged me to be in the sound area. I liked that, what I did not imagine was that God would use that to change my plans and my life ... so for several years I served in that area.
I finished my high school in 2001 and I enrolled in the Architecture University of Buenos Aires, to start my career in 2002. But that summer I went to the Word of Life Camp, but not only as a camper but also as part of the team ... and after my week as a camper, I joined the team and they put me in the Sound area. God had a plan !!! I had to be in each devotional with the sound equipment, in each meeting, God was speaking to my life ... even the person in charge of the area, a Word of Life missionary and the service colleagues, who were students of the Word of Life Bible Institute, encouraged me to study one year to know more about the Lord and prepare myself better so that I would face in the University ... I did not want to, but God insisted and with the days I began to realize that God wanted something else from me. I fought for several weeks, until I said ENOUGH !!! And I decided to study only 1 year at the Bible Institute ... but God had more! And he studied 3 years more. This place that trained me as a servant and as a man in many aspects, it was the place where I met my wife, who had been my study partner for 3 years.

About Natalia

My name is Natalia Perri de Mercado, I am 32 years old, I was born in San Miguel del Monte, Buenos Aires, Argentina. When I was born, my family was catholic practitioner.
The Word of Life ministry was already in Monte a few years ago and little by little my parents were having a relationship with a missionary couple. At the time my parents received Christ as their Savior and God began to do a beautiful work in their lives.
At the age of 4, I understood the message of salvation and accepted Christ as my Savior. I remember the moment with very clear and a few weeks later in the Biblical School I had security of my salvation. As a family we began to grow in our Christian life, my parents studied in the Bible Institute and get involved in different ministries.
At the age of 9 years, different situations happened in my family and my parents began to make bad decisions, at the point that my father made the decision to take his own life. Undoubtedly that event affected the whole family, I in particular way from 9 to 14 years old have no memories of that period of time. I was very angry with my dad, and with God for allowing his death and also with myself, because I thought I could have avoided it. At the age of 14 during a summer camp, I understood that in my heart there was a lot of bitterness and I needed to resolve this problem in my heart. God spoke to my heart. That night during a camp fire, I asked God for forgiveness for so many years of anger, I forgive myself because I understood that it was not my fault and forgive my dad for the decision he had made. I understood that God had allowed that in my life and that in due time he was going to use it for his glory and honor.
 When I was 17, I consecrated my life to the Lord in a camp fire, delivering everything, my past, the present and the future of my life in His hands. That day I had no idea of ??the wonders that the Lord was going to do, and how he was going to use everything that he allowed in my life for his glory, to the point of getting to thank him for every situation of pain. God used people in the process and continues to use them even today, to teach me, sustain me and train me. I cannot stop mentioning my mom, an example of love for God, of the consolation that only comes from God and her service even today with her 70 years old.
I finished high school and in 2002 I started studying in the Bible Institute in Word of Life, God through his Word transformed my heart and the understanding of it led me to transform my character and make decisions that changed the course of my life. When I finishing the Bible Institute, I studied in order to be a teacher.
In the time of the Bible Institute I met Jonathan Mercado, God showed that he was the man that He had chosen for me in order to have a family that honor His name. In 2007 we got married and
Looking to the past I can only thank God for every situation he allowed me to leave, even the painful, because I understand that they work good in my life. In the present we thank God for every service opportunity in so many different ways. And thinking about the future, we see what he has done in the past and he is doing in the present, having his promises in our hearts, as well as waiting what the Lord shows for us, knowing that He is coming soon. Mean time we enjoy the beautiful Christian life he provideS us and what he does in and through us.
Today my family is composed of our daughter Nellah two years old, our son Josue three years old and if God allows in December 2016, our daughter will be born. Now I understand that beautiful verse from , I understand that beautiful verse from 1 Corinthians 2: 9, rather as it is written: "What eye did not see, nor ear heard, nor have they gone up to the heart of man, are those which God has prepared for those who love him." I enjoy seeing all those things that I never imagined or dreamed, that God allows me to live by loving Him.
My prayer continues, is to do everything with the right heart for the Lord, knowing that he returns soon to look for us.

Isaiah 55.8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts more than your thoughts".

Contact Information

jonymrk2@hotmail.com
Palabra de Vida
Florida 716 3ro H
Capital Federal, CP 1005
Buenos Aires, Argentina

+54 9 1160079228